Weft detector for looms



Nov. 17, 1931. A. J. CHEVRETTE WEFT DETECTOR FOR LOOMS Filed March 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l JZvl/EN TOR A L/G-US 77/v J CHEVRETTE W1 A 77'0RNEY5 Nov. 17, 1931. A. J. CHEVRETTE WEFT DETECTOR FOR LOOMS Filed March 16,' 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ausus T//\/ J. CHEI/EE77'E A 7TL7FPNE Y5 Patented Nov. 1 7, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTIN J. CHEVRETTE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CROMP'ION & KNOWLES LOOM WORKS, OF WORCESTER, IVIASSi KCIEIUSZET'J.S, A. CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS wnrr nn'rncron FOR LOOMS Application filed. March 16,

This invention relates to improvements in electrical weft detectors for looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide means whereby entrance of the shuttle into its box is effective to move the detector into shuttle engaging position.

In certain types or electrical weft detectors it is customary to provide contact ele ments on which the shuttle slides as it enters the box. Such an arrangement not infrequently wears grooves in the'front wall of the shuttle, and it is accordingly an important object of my invention to provide means for holding the weft detecting contacts normally out of engaging position with the shuttle so that as the latter enters the box it may move a considerable distance without sliding engagement with the detectors.

As set forth herein it is only after the shuttle is partly or completely boxed that the detector is capable of moving into contacting position.

It is a still further object of my present invention to provide a weftdetector which tends normally to move toward the shuttle but is restrained from such movement by the binder when the latter is out of engaging position with the shuttle. As the shuttle enters the box it will move the binder, thus causing the latter to lose its control over the detector to permit the latter to move into detecting position.

The invention set forth herein is adapted for use in connection with a shuttle having an internal electric circuit which is closed at weft exhaustion so as to connect electrically two plates on an external surface of the shuttle. It is to be understood, however, that certain features of the invention are not necessarily limited to this type of shuttle.

In the disclosure set forth herein I have shown my invention applied to the drop box end of a loom which may be of the weft replenishing type, such as a bobbin or shuttle" changer, and although the invention has been applied heretofore in shuttle changing looms, nevertheless it may be used to stop the loom if this result be desired instead of replenishment.

With these and other objects in view which 1931. Serial No. 522,863.

will appear as the description proceeds my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of'parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a lay having my invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to a portion of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale showing the position the parts sustain as the shuttle enters the box, V

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of arrow 3, and drawn on an enlarged scale, 7

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View showing the electric circuits from one shuttle. 7

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown a lay 10 having outer and inner box guides 11 and 12 which receive the tongues 13 and 14, respectively, of a gang of shifting shuttle boxes designated at 15. These boxes may accommodate upper andlower shuttles S and S, respectively, and the boxes are defined in part by binders 16. Each of the latter is provided with a pivot 17 carried by the lay and has also a rounded shuttle engaging preferably leather covered face 18. The right hand end of each binder as set forth in Fig. 1 may have contact with a protector finger 19 to actuate protector rod 20 in the usual By means of mechanism not shown but Well understood the boxes may be shifted in their guides so that one or another of their shuttles will be positioned opposite the lay carried race plate 21 for picking. Actuation of the shuttles is accomplished by means of apicker 22 slidable along a picker rod 23 by any approved means, such as a picker stick 24:.

Fig. 5 illustrates a type of shuttle which L 1 back by the: weft W so'that the end 27 is in noncontacting position until the weft is exhausted, at which time a spring 28 pushes the lever to contacting position. The weft carrier G is provided with a slot 29 through which a. portion of the lever moves to permit. contact. The lever is in electrical contact with the spindle.

Each shuttle is provided with a contact plate 30 to engage the contact 27 on the lever, while a second plate 31 is in permanent electric connection with the spindle, as shown in fig. 5. for each Of the shuttles is the same I will limit the present description to the upper shuttle S.

A plate 32 formed preferably of insulating material is supported on the box structure 15 by means of bolts 33 extending vertically through the plate. These boltsextend through a bracket 34 havin upper and lower arms 35 and 36, respectively, which are held to the box structure 15 by means of screws 37. Extending preferably between the bolts is a pivot pin 33 made preferably of hard fiber or some similar wear resisting but insulating material.

A; contact arm 39 has a bearing. hub 40 extending through an opening 41 in plate 32 and pivoted to pin 38. [his lever has a shuttle engaging nose 42 extending through another hole 43 in plate 32 and is also provided with a finger 47. A small compression spring 44 interposed between plate 32 and the finger acts to move the nose rearwardly toward the shuttle.

The other contact arm 45 has a bearing hub 46 passing through the elongated. horizontal slot 43 in the plate 32 and pivotally mounted on one of the bolts 33. A nose 48 in horizontal alignment with nose 42 also lies in slot 43. A finger 49 receives the thrust of a small compression spring 50 and acts in a manner similar to spring 44 to move nose 48 rearwardly.

Contact arm 39 is insulated by the pin 38 and plate 32 and may be electrically connected to a wire 51 by means of a conducting plate 52 on the plate 32 and in electrical contact with spring 44. Contact arm 45,. on the other hand, is in direct electric connection with the loom frame through bolt 33 on which it pivots, as will be obvious by an inspection of Figs. 3 and 4. lVhcn contact 27 touches plate 30, and noses 42 and. 4S engage the plates 30 and 31, respectively, an external circuit between wire 51 and the ground will be closed. The contact levers for the lower shuttle, together with their mounting and electrical connections, are substantially similar to those described in connection with the upper shuttle.

The matter thus far described forms no part 01 my present invention.

In carrying my invention into effect I provide means whereby the contact levers of each shuttle are normally held out of conlnasmuch as the electrical equipment box as at 62. Each spring 61 will be strong enough to overpower the compression springs which engage the correspmidin g lingers, so that when a shuttle is out of he box the binder and the contact arms will be approximately in the position shown in Fig. 2 with. the noses 42 and 48 in front of and out of contacting relation with respect to the front. wall of the shuttle S.

It will be noted that the surface 18 which actually engages the shuttle is located to the left of the contact fingers, so that the shuttle isrequired to travel beyond the latter before engaging the binder. When such. engagement takes place the shuttle will force the binder outwardly against the action of spring 61, whereupon the block will move to the position shown in Fig. 1 to release the springs 44 and 50. T he latter will thereupon move the contact arms into contacting or shuttle engaging position. if a circuit can be closed through the shuttle under these con ditions, a change in the operation oi the loom will result due to closure of the previously mentioned external circuit including wire 51.

In this way I provide means wnich permit the shuttle to complete practically all of its travel in the shuttle box before the noses of the contact arms are permitted to engage the shuttle wall.- lVhen the shuttle is picked out of the box the reverse action takes place, the contact arms engaging but a short part of the shuttle so that the trailing end oi? the latter is out of contact with the shuttle wall duringa large part of the outward movement of the shuttle in its box.

From the foregoing it will be seen that l iave provided means whereby mechanical cngagement of the contact arms with the shuttie is prevented until the shuttle is substantially boxed. It will further be seen a re-' sult of this construction that movement of the contact arms to contacting. position is made dependent upon presence of the shuttle in its box. The block (50 is made of insulating material so that there is no op portuni-' ty for electric connection between the contact arms due to the inward movement oi the binder.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a loom operating with a shuttle having an electric contact thereon, a binder to engage the shuttle as the latter nears the end of its flight, a contact element acting normally to move into contacting position relatively to the contact on the shuttle, and connections between the binder and the element to hold the latter normally out of contacting position when the shuttle is out of contact with the binder.

2. In a loom operating with a shuttle having an electric contact thereon, a contact element tending normally to move into contacting position relatively to the contact on the shuttle, and a binder normally engaging said element to hold the same out of contacting position, engagement of the shuttle with the binder moving the latter out of engagement with the element, whereupon the latter moves to contacting position.

In a loom having a lay along which travels a shuttle having an electric contact, a binder pivoted to the lay to engage the shuttle as the latter nears the end of its flight, a contact element mounted on and movable relatively to the lay and tending normally to move into position to engage the contact on the shuttle, and connections between the element and the binder whereby the latter is effective to hold the element out of contacting position until the shuttle nears the end of its flight and has engagement with the binder at. in a loom having a lay along which travels a shuttle having an electric contact, a binder pivoted to the lay to engage the shuttle as the latter nears the end of its flight, a contact element mount-ed on and movable relatively to the lay and tending normally to move into position to engage the contact on the shuttle, and connections between the element and the binder whereby the latter is effective to hold the element out of contacting position until the shuttle nears the end of its flight and has engagement with the binder, said connections including means to insulate the binder from the element.

In a loom having a lay along which travels a shuttle having an electric contact, an electric contact lever pivoted with respect to the lay, means tending normally to move said lever into contacting position relatively to the contact on the shuttle, a binder pivoted to the lay and urged in a direction toward the shuttle, and connections between the binderand the lever, the binder overpowering said means and holding the lever out of contacting position, engagement of the shuttle with the binder moving the latter out of engaging position with respect to the lever, whereupon said means moves the lever into engaging position.

6. In a loom having a lay along which travels a shuttle having an electric contact, an electric contacting lever pivoted to the lay, a relatively light yielding means tending to move said lever into contacting position with respect to the contact on the shuttle, a binder on the lay to engage the shuttle, a relatively heavy yielding means tending to move the binder into shuttle engaging position, and connections between the binder and the lever, whereupon the binder acting under influence of the relatively heavy yielding means overpowers the light yielding means to hold the lever out of contacting position, engagement of the shuttle with the binder moving the latter out of engaging position relatively to the lever, whereupon the light yielding means acts to move the lever to contacting position.

7. In a loom operating with a shuttle having an electric contact thereon, a contact element tending normally to move into contacting position relatively to the contact on the shuttle, means to hold said lever out of contacting position, the shuttle upon arrival at a predetermined position in its travel overpowering the means, whereupon the element moves to contacting position.

8. In a loom operating with a shuttle having an electric contact thereon, a contact element tending normally to move into contacting position with respect to the contact on the shuttle, and a shuttle engaging member 0peratively related to the element, said member when out of engagement with the shuttle holding the element out of contacting position, and the shuttle when engaging said member moving the latter out of engagement with the element, whereupon the latter moves to contacting position.

9. In a loom operating with a shuttle having an electric contact thereon, a contact element tending normally to move into contacting position with respect to the contact on the shuttle, and a shuttle engaging controller for said element, said controller normally overpowering the tendency of the element to move into contacting position and hold said element out of contacting position when the shuttle is in one position, and said controller when the shuttle is in another position being engaged by the latter to be moved thereby out of controlling position relatively to the ele ment, whereupon the latter moves to contacting position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

AUGUSTIN J. CHEVRETTE. 

